Fallen
by invictus-hd
Summary: The fall of the Jedi allows Revan to begin to reshape the Republic. The remaining Jedi are caught between a rock and a hard place as the galactic government begins to pass laws that support the Sith ideals. Pre KOTOR AU
1. Chapter 1

It could be worse, Meetra told herself, wrapping up in a thread bare blanket and pressing closer to the youngling she had tucked against her side.

She was lucky to be alive, she told herself, a sad smile coming unbidden to her lips as the young boy snuffled in his sleep.

Lord Revan was merciful, she told herself again and again with the hope that she'd somehow start believing it.

But no matter how many times she told herself that she was lucky, it didn't ring more clear or feel more true.

The war was over. The Jedi had lost spectacularly after the capture and subsequent betrayal of Padawan Bastila Shan. The remnants of the Council had been hunted down by the ever growing Sith fleet, and the temple on Coruscant had been destroyed.

Revan finally had the empire he'd so coveted, and as was par for the course, he'd made very short work of winning over the public.

With former Padawan Shan at his side, the charismatic Dark Lord was weaseling his way into the hearts of a sizable chunk of the population. Strain between the Jedi and the citizens put Revan into a perfect position... after all, the people didn't really differentiate between the Sith and the Jedi. They were all just force users with slightly different strategies to the casual observer.

All it took was a few brush strokes by a master manipulator to repaint the Jedi into an archaic body of uncaring, privileged people who had ignored the needs of the regular citizen for centuries, leading the Republic into war, poverty, destruction... the list could go on for an age.

The Jedi effectively had become the Galaxy's biggest scapegoat.

Until the oh so magnificent Lord Revan had come and toppled their oppressive dynasty, saving the people from the hypocrisy of an outdated order of supremacists. Obviously.

Everything that had occurred was suddenly fault of the Jedi. The Mandalorian wars, the Jedi Civil war (as they were calling it), and the resulting social and economic strain that was facing the Republic. As could be expected, what little decent Government was left after decades of war had fallen beautifully into line. Public opinion was everything to an elected official.

Not to mention that no one particularly wanted to cross Revan.

Revan had the current Chancellor at heel like a well trained Kath hound, from what little she heard from the capital. It was almost laughable how perfectly he'd played everyone. Including the Jedi. Bastila's capture had really been the last blow. Perhaps if she'd simply been killed the Jedi would have still been able to hold Revan at bay. Unfortunately within several weeks she'd resurfaced, turning her vaunted Battle Meditation against what little was left of the Republic's resistance.

It had only taken two weeks once Bastila was on the side of the Sith, to bring the majority of the Republic fleet to it's knees. Revan's ranks had swollen with defected Republic troops as morale fell and propaganda began.

Rogue Force users were dangerous, the Senate had announced on Galactic news. With the discord between the citizens of the Republic, and the Jedi over the last several decades, the people had eaten up the lies. They had someone to point a finger at now.

Out of the idea that Force users not affiliated with Revan were a threat to the safety of the Republic, the Chancellor had proposed that all Force sensitives be registered in a galactic database. Anyone who came forward of their own accord would be given a full pardon for any previous crimes against the Republic. To anyone with half a brain it was an obvious ploy to flush out the youngest of the Jedi. Those Padawans that had fled the enclaves on their own, with no Masters to guide them. Some of them were little more than hungry, scared children, and would jump at the chance to stop running from the law- hopeful to reunite with their friends and teachers.

After the registry, the Senate had announced it's program to rid the threat of Rogue Force Users from the Galactic Republic. It had been met with a startling amount of public support.

Revan had taken the moment to intervene, objecting to the inhumane treatment of Republic citizens, citing that rehabilitation would be a better course of action than extermination.

After all, Lord Revan was merciful.

He played the public like a well tuned instrument, and they lapped it up. It was sickening how someone who had been so hated, could be suddenly so adored.

Meetra yawned, wrapping her arms around the little boy as he shivered. She pulled the blanket tighter around the both of them, unable to relax enough to sleep. There was always the constant threat of being found. Meetra wasn't sure exactly what being rehabilitated entailed, but given the Sith recruitment methods, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Her sources had dried up one after another as Jedi and Jedi sympathizers were caught, or just plain went into hiding.

From what little she'd gathered from the Holo, and her few informants- the Republic was moving the captured Jedi and Force sensitives into one place. Not all of them ended up there, but those that did got put to work like common criminals. It seemed to be some sort of Agricultural, or Sanitation work that they ended up doing. A rehabilitation program, said the Republic, taking dangerous Rogue Force users off the streets and helping them get back to a normal, productive life.

Meetra was one hundred percent certain that it wasn't that cut and paste. If it were simply protecting the people, only Force users who were committing crimes or menacing society would be hunted. As she understood it, there were now highly trained Sith task forces, who's main objective was to find and capture force users. These days harboring a Jedi was as dangerous as being a Jedi.

Shifting in a vain attempt to get comfortable, Meetra leaned her head back against the wall behind her. It had been stupid to come back into Republic space, but the woman had this irritating sense of justice about her. Maybe she could help, she'd thought. She'd jumped from one enclave world to another, looking for answers, for survivors. The Sith left her alone for the most part, after all the Force wasn't present in her. Finding the boy had been dumb luck, and now that she had him- she wasn't really sure what to do with him.

It was a question for tomorrow, much like the question of food and off world transportation.

She sighed softly, closing her eyes. Just a few minutes of sleep would do her a world of good.


	2. Chapter 2

The lodgings Meetra had secured had one room and a sorry excuse for a kitchen. There was no furniture, and overall the space was dusty, gray and in need of repair. Light filtered through the cracks in the boarded up windows, and around the edges of the door- washing the otherwise dim room in a golden haze.

The Exile was awake, her back to the wall, she listened halfheartedly to the chirping of birds outside. The rest of her focus was on the little boy that had managed to wrest the entirety of their sole blanket from her sometime during the night. The threadbare material was wrapped around his small frame, with his tiny booted feet hanging out the bottom and a bit wadded up under his head. The gentle rise and fall of his chest while he slept was the only thing that kept Meetra aware of him still being alive. He slept deeply, the sleep of someone with no worries.

Or someone too naive to be worried.

H'ratth wasn't one of the main focuses of the Sith fleet, but the Jedi Academy here hadn't been spared. It had been evident since the moment Meetra had stepped off the settlement's landing pad that the Sith had been there. She could smell the smoke in the air from the Jedi Academy, and once she'd gotten her bearings it was impossible to miss the dark plume of smoke rising in the Eastern sky. Likely the praxeum hadn't even seen the attack coming. H'ratth was a remote world, and the Jedi that studied here were destined to be scholars and healers, not Knights. They wouldn't have stood a chance against the Sith.

The citizens had looked at her warily, and Meetra could sense the sorrow and tension in the people. On this planet, there had been a peaceful co-existence with the Jedi. The Masters on this world were gentle healers, who's knowledge of the Force had likely aided many a settler. Until the Sith had come.

Luckily for Meetra, anyone with eyes could see that her small ship was obviously not in any way affiliated with the Sith. If it's rusting, in much need of repair exterior was any indication.

To be quite frank, she wasn't sure the bucket of bolts would make it off planet. The entry into the atmosphere had been unreasonably rough, and it'd taken every trick she'd learned in the war to keep the thing from blowing up before landing. Getting off of H'ratth wasn't a problem she'd foreseen, but it was now an issue. What was one more problem on the ever increasing list?

Watching the boy sleep, the Exile felt a wave of helplessness wash over her. She couldn't protect him. If the Sith found them, she was no match for even one lightsaber wielding Force user, let alone several. They'd kill her and take him, or worse- kill them both. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but the only option they had was to run.

Meetra had gotten good at running. From her past, from the Jedi, from the Sith. It didn't matter who she was running from- just that she could do it well, and fast.

"Caalin." She called softly, her lips quirking into a smile as the boy shifted and made a noise of protest. How he could sleep so comfortably on the hard floor was a mystery to her. One of the perks of youth, she supposed. "Caalin." The woman tried again, a bit louder. They couldn't stay here, it had already been pushing it to spend the night. She had a few more repairs to do on the ship, repairs that had required daylight. It had been light for almost an hour, they needed to get moving.

The youngling groaned tiredly, slowly opening his gray eyes. They were blood shot and red rimmed, sending a pang of sadness through her. "Good morning." She chirped, swallowing the lump in her throat. The boy nodded tiredly, his eyes drooping closed again. Meetra sighed.

Alright. The hard way it was.

The woman began to quickly gather her small pack, making sure she had everything. She stripped out of the smoke blackened shirt she'd worn yesterday, pulling another too-big garment on over her too-thin body. Impulsively she ran her fingers through her coppery hair, making the shoulder length mop all but stand on end. The former Jedi took a long moment to double check her weapons. Her blaster was the most expensive thing she owned, and the thing that had saved her life more times than she cared to admit. On her hip was a short vibrosword. It wouldn't last long against a lightsaber, but it was comforting to have the close combat blade, just in case.

Finally, when everything was in order, she turned back to the boy.

The Exile wasn't sure how old he was, but he didn't seem younger than four, and didn't look older than six. Not that she was the expert on all things child related, by any stretch of the imagination. "Caalin, I'm going to pick you up." Meetra said, crouching down beside the boy and pushing his dark hair out of his face. He barely stirred. She grasped him under the shoulders, pulling his upper body up. With one hand under his knees and one on his back, the woman hoisted the boy into her arms.

He was _way_ heavier than she'd first imagined.

With a grunt, Meetra adjusted the boy so that he was on her hip, his head resting on her shoulder. With her free hand she swung her pack up onto her opposite shoulder, before pushing open the door and stepping out into the sunlight.

It took longer than usual for her vision to adjust, the lack of sleep making her eyes bleary. Against her chest Caalin groaned, shifting restlessly as his sleep was yet again disturbed. The Exile rubbed his back soothingly, blinking against the early morning sun. Still half blind, Meetra stepped into the quiet street- only to plow headlong into a solid figure outside her door.

She reeled back with a muttered curse-straightening Caalin who had awoken again with a whimper.

"Apologies. I didn't see you there." The former Jedi supplied sincerely as she righted herself, blinking away the last of the sunshine and fatigue. She took a moment to pull the thin blanket tighter around the youngling in her arms, hushing him as he squirmed and tried to speak.

"Not at all." The figure replied in a perfectly cultured Talravin accent.

Meetra's blood ran cold.

"Not at all..."

The former Jedi gritted her teeth, her gaze snapping up to lock with the icy blue eyes of Bastila Shan.


End file.
